The present invention generally relates to a housing configuration for a medical instrument or tool, and more specifically to a sealed, tamper-evident housing for a camera head to be used with an endoscopic system.
Medical instruments or tools are utilized during surgery for various purposes. Some of these surgical tools may be used in what are generally termed endoscopic procedures. Endoscopy in the medical field allows internal features of the body of a patient to be viewed without the use of traditional, fully invasive surgery. Endoscopic imaging systems incorporate endoscopes so as to enable a surgeon to view a surgical site, and endoscopic tools enable non-invasive surgery at the site. Such tools may be shaver-type devices which mechanically cut bone and hard tissue, or radio frequency (RF) probes which are used to remove tissue via ablation or to coagulate tissue to minimize bleeding at the surgical site, for example.
In endoscopic surgery, the endoscope is placed in the body at the location at which it is necessary to perform a surgical procedure. Other surgical instruments, such as the endoscopic tools mentioned above, are also placed in the body at the surgical site. A surgeon views the surgical site through the endoscope in order to manipulate the tools to perform the desired surgical procedure. Some endoscopes are usable along with a camera head for the purpose of processing the images received by the endoscope. The eye piece of such an endoscope is typically coupled to a camera head, which is connected to a camera control unit.
The development of endoscopes and their companion surgical tools has made it possible to perform minimally invasive surgery that eliminates the need to make a large incision in the patient to gain access to the surgical site. Instead, during endoscopic surgery, small openings, called portals, are formed. One advantage of performing endoscopic surgery is that since the portions of the body that are cut are reduced, the portions of the body that need to heal after the surgery are likewise reduced. Still another advantage of endoscopic surgery is that it exposes less of the interior tissue of the patient's body to the open environment. This minimal opening of the patient's body lessens the extent to which the patient's internal tissue and organs are open to infection.
Because the endoscope system, including the camera head, is involved in a surgical procedure, care must be taken to ensure that the components are not only sealed, but also that the areas of the components that may accumulate matter, such as tissue or blood, are minimized or eliminated. In the past, camera heads have comprised a two-piece housing, the pieces being screwed or bolted together. While the use of screws or bolts allows for adequate attachment and sealability of the camera housing, it provides small areas or pockets in which matter can accumulate. These areas or pockets thus can possibly result in a less than sanitary system, and areas which are not easily cleaned and sanitized.
The embodiments of the present invention solve the above-described problems. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a two-piece housing including a first enclosure part and a second enclosure part. The first enclosure part has a plurality of locking areas and optionally, one or more mating grooves. The second enclosure part has a plurality of locking tabs and optionally, one or more mating tabs. The locking tabs engage the locking areas of the first enclosure to lock the parts together, and the mating tabs fit within the mating grooves of the first enclosure part to add stability and to make the housing tamper-evident.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of assembling a camera head housing made of two parts, a first enclosure piece and a second enclosure piece. The two enclosure pieces are attached to one another by the use of a specialized tool to fit the first enclosure piece onto the second enclosure piece in a rotatable fashion, which creates a snug friction fit and a seal without the use of any fasteners other than internal flanges, grooves, and tabs on the housing components.
Other advantages, objects and/or purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with constructions of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.